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My maternal grandfather John Eugene McGlade, son of Arthur Joseph McGlade and Catherine Honora McCarthy. I wish I had known him, but he died before I was born. He has always been something of a presence in my life, however, because he has always been very fondly remembered by his children (my mother and her five siblings), who have passed down many stories.

He had a gas station (or service station, as it was then called) at the corner of Gore and Craig Streets (in Perth, Lanark Co., Ontario), where there is now a Tim Horton’s. According to several of my aunts, he was a better person than he was a businessman: if someone had fought in the war (World War II, that is), he could never bring himself to collect on the account (‘Ah, well, now, he’s a veteran…’), and he also had a soft spot for a widow with a family (‘Ah, God love her, and with so many mouths to feed…well, maybe next month…’). He used to refer to my grandmother, Nana Dee, whom I knew very well, as “the Queen Bee,” a nice tribute to her brisk maternal competence (she had six children in just under nine years; and she used to drive the nuns around town in her big boat of a car; and she also belonged to a curling club; and was just a force of nature overall).

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On 28 November 1886, Esther Lily Crowe was baptized a Catholic at St. Isidore, South March. Her sponsors were Noé Pagé and Mary Ann Lahey (daughter of John Lahey and Margaret Jane Killeen). She was 16 years old at the time, and had previously been baptized into the Anglican church as the “lawful child” of William Crowe and Margaret Ann Leith.

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I really like the ornamental border on this photograph. The detail looks 1920s to me, but in fact, this picture was taken in 1933. Left to right: my great-grandmother Catherine McCarthy; my mother’s eldest sister (daughter of John Eugene McGlade and Delia Lucie Derouin); and my great-aunt Neen (Noreen McGlade, daughter of Catherine McCarthy and Arthur Joseph McGlade). Drummond Street, Perth (Lanark Co., Ontario).

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My great-aunt Mary Ellen McGlade (1909-1993), daughter of Arthur Joseph McGlade and Catherine Honora McCarthy. She took the name Noreen (after her sister Noreen McGlade) when she became a sister of the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul and was thereafter called Sister Mary Noreen. But to nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews, she was fondly known as “Aunt Nell.”

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The Archives of Ontario has an online exhibit entitled Medical Records at the Archives of Ontario: Tuberculosis Records. As this exhibit notes, tuberculosis was once “a leading cause of death in the industrialized world.” In Ontario, public health efforts to control, if not eradicate, this disease involved the founding of numerous clinics and sanatoriums, the establishment of a Tuberculosis Case Register, and various public awareness campaigns, including a 1921 silent film, sponsored by the Ontario Provincial Board of Health, which carried the dire and didactic medico-moral message that it was “Her Own Fault,”

in which ‘the girl who fails in life’s struggles’ meets her downfall because of poor diet, late hours, and a penchant for fashion sales. She is soon hospitalized with tuberculosis, while her opposite, ‘the girl who succeeds,’ is promoted to forewoman at the factory.

How absolutely awful to assign such blame to the victims of tuberculosis. But interesting to note that in this 1921 film, factory work for a young woman (and even an ambition to the post of factory forewoman) was apparently depicted as something positive.

The central subject of this haunting photograph is a man whose name I do not (yet) know. He was, as per the note on the back of the photograph, “Auntie Anne’s first husband,” and the photo was taken “at the sanatorium” (but which sanatorium? and where?), where he was obviously a patient. Click thumbnail to see larger image:

Auntie Anne was Anna Matilda Derouin, the younger sister of my maternal grandmother Delia Lucie (Derouin) McGlade. Her second husband was a Walter (“Woddy”) McIlquham, whom I met as a child and who is associated in my mind with the town of Carleton Place (Lanark Co., Ontario). I did not know she had had a first husband until I came across the above photograph. My mother cannot recall his name, but thinks he died of tuberculosis.

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My 3x great-grandparents Jane Byrne (born about 1811, died after April 1881) and John Leavy (1801-1881):

John Leavy’s headstone (Indian Hill RC Cemetery, Pakenham, Lanark Co.) identifies him as “a native of Co. Longford, Ireland;” Jane Byrne was presumably also a native of that Irish county.

This couple married about 1830 in Ireland (presumably Co. Longford), and had three children (Patrick; Mary Ann [my great-great-grandmother]); and James) born in Ireland; before emigrating to Upper Canada around 1834, where they settled at Pakenham, Lanark Co., Ontario, and had six more children (Thomas; Ellen; John; Michael; Jane; Elizabeth).

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Born about 1841 (April 1841 according to the 1911 Canadian census) in Co. Clare, Ireland, the daughter of Patrick McDonald (or McDonnell?) and Catherine Dea. Apparently emigrated to Canada as a young girl (late 1840s to mid-1850s?). Her first husband was a David Mahoney (also born Co. Clare), who died about 1867 at Smiths Falls, Lanark Co., Ontario, leaving her a widow with three young daughters. She then married (21 March 1872) Eugene McCarthy (born about 1834 at Farranamanagh, Kilcrohane, Co. Cork, Ireland), whose first wife Catherine Traynor/Treanor had died in 1871, leaving him a widower with four young children.

Eugene McCarthy and Honora McDonald/McDonnell had two daughters: Ellen McCarthy (who married John Fowler) and Catherine Honora McCarthy (my great-grandmother, who married Arthur Joseph McGlade).

Honora (McDonald/McDonnell) McCarthy died at Toledo, Leeds Co., Ontario on 19 April 1914. She is buried at St. Frances de Sales Cemetery in Smiths Falls, Lanark Co., Ontario, with her first husband David Mahoney.